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Articles on Unaccompanied minors

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Unaccompanied immigrant minors wait for Border Patrol processing after they crossed the Rio Grande into Roma, Texas, April 29, 2021. John Moore/Getty Images

This is what happens to child migrants found alone at the border, from the moment they cross into the US until age 18

A record 95,079 child migrants had arrived alone at the US’s southern border by July this year. The US is legally responsible for these children, but it is struggling to give them adequate care.
Unaccompanied immigrant minors wait on July 2, 2019 in Los Ebanos, Texas to be transported to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after entering the U.S. to seek political asylum. John Moore/Getty Images

US immigration judges considering asylum for unaccompanied minors are ‘significantly influenced’ by politics

Immigration judges must base their decisions to grant asylum to immigrant children on whether these children have realistic fears of persecution. But other factors influence those decisions.
U.S. Border Patrol detains tens of thousands of the families and children who try to cross U.S. borders every year. AP Photo/Julio Cortez

The situation at the US-Mexico border is a crisis – but is it new?

Children and families have been fleeing to the US in rising numbers for nearly a decade. So why is the current situation at the US-Mexico border being viewed as something new?
Unaccompanied minors wait to see a Border Patrol agent after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas on March 25, 2021. John Moore/Getty Images

4 reasons why migrant children arriving alone to the US create a ‘border crisis’

Unaccompanied minors pose a humanitarian challenge for Biden, as they did for Trump and Obama. There are no quick fixes to child migration and many vexing complications, says an immigration scholar.
Central American migrants face extortion, robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape and murder on their weeks-long journey through Mexico. Some find safety in numbers. AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

Migrants travel in groups for a simple reason: safety

More than two-thirds of Central American migrants will experience violence on their journey through Mexico, from robbery and extortion to rape. Caravans create safety in numbers.
The United Nations has called a new Trump administration policy of separating migrant families and detaining children ‘abuse.’ Reuters/Patrick Fallon

Forced migration from Central America: 5 essential reads

Trump hopes migrants won’t come if they know their children will be taken away. That grim logic ignores the inescapable dangers that drive thousands of Central Americans to flee their homes each year.

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